South Burnett mayoral candidates have their say at forum

Pre-polling locations have been announced for next month's local government elections.

Voters can pre-poll from March 14 until March 18.

People can pre-poll at these locations.

Blackbutt

Council Building, 69 Hart St, Blackbutt.

Kingaroy

Council Office, 45 Glendon St, Kingaroy.

Murgon

Council Office, 42 Stephens St West, Murgon, 4605.

Nanango

Council Office, 48 Drayton St, Nanango, 4615.

Wondai

Cnr MacKenzie and Scott Sts, Wondai, 4606.

Polls open at 8.30am and close at 4.30pm from Monday to Friday.

For more details go to the Electoral Commission of Queensland website.

EARLIER

THE South Burnett Regional Council mayoral race has started at a forum hosted by the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce.

Monday evening's forum at the Commercial Hotel gave four candidates the opportunity to argue why they should be the South Burnett's next mayor.

The candidates, Sheena Lindholm, Damien Tessmann, Mike Brown and Keith Campbell, also weighed in on controversial topics like the road levy and the coal mine proposed outside Kingaroy.

A fifth mayoral candidate, Grant Newson, did not attend the forum.

Here is what the candidates had to say:

What are your thoughts on the Kingaroy Streetscape?

It's much overdue. We've needed it for a long, long time. If efficiency was applied to these projects we'd be laughing.

- Mike Brown

Mike Brown speaks on mayoral candidacy:
Mike Brown speaks to the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry about his tilt at the South Burnett Regional Council.

Mike Brown speaks on mayoral candidacy:
Mike Brown speaks to the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry about his tilt at the South Burnett Regional Council.

It is long overdue. We certainly need to freshen the place up. The community needs to be engaged right from the word go. Come forward with your ideas.

- Keith Campbell

What I'd like to see from council…is finding people and business owners. If we're on the same journey together, by the time we get to the end of it it's going to look brilliant.

- Sheena Lindholm

I'm very much open to it but we've learned a lot of lessons from the Nanango Streetscape. We want to make sure we get the planning right.

- Damien Tessmann

Damien Tessmann speaks on mayoral candidacy:
Damien Tessmann speaks to the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry about his tilt at the South Burnett Regional Council.

Damien Tessmann speaks on mayoral candidacy:
Damien Tessmann speaks to the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry about his tilt at the South Burnett Regional Council.

What is your view about the road levy?

Since amalgamation the expectation hasn't been set about what we can achieve on our roads. There's some real questions that need to be asked in terms of communication, there's also questions on efficiency.

- Sheena Lindholm

Sheena Lindholm speaks on mayoral candidacy:
Sheena Lindholm speaks to the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry about his tilt at the South Burnett Regional Council.

Sheena Lindholm speaks on mayoral candidacy:
Sheena Lindholm speaks to the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry about his tilt at the South Burnett Regional Council.

To me it's an absolute no brainer. The income from the road levy simply has to stay. Maybe at some stage along the way…the road levy needs to be folded back into the general rate.

- Keith Campbell

I am opposed to the road levy. You can't tell people it's a temporary thing and leave it there forever, it just isn't fair. What council needs to do is be more efficient with money, lobby the governments above us and get us more money.

- Mike Brown

The road levy came about because we had such a savage cut to a federal assistant grant. We've got to really look how we spend our money. I can see a way we get that money back and look at halving the road levy.

- Damien Tessmann

How do you feel about the new proposed mine?

We need more information, what has been put out is not hitting the mark. Agriculture is still our most successful and most profitable industry.

- Damien Tessmann

I have lots of questions about this as well. This is something we all feel very deeply about. I look personally moving forward seeing our greatest opportunity in agriculture. I am looking forward to hearing more information.

- Sheena Lindholm

At this point in time, I certainly do not have enough facts to make an absolutely final decision. With the information that has been put forward…it just doesn't strike me that it's going to be a very feasible type of proposition.

- Keith Campbell

Keith Campbell speaks about his mayoral candidacy:
Keith Campbell speaks to the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry about his tilt at the South Burnett Regional Council.

Keith Campbell speaks about his mayoral candidacy:
Keith Campbell speaks to the Kingaroy Chamber of Commerce and Industry about his tilt at the South Burnett Regional Council.

I believe it's too close to town. I question whether the market is at a point where Moreton (Resources) can benefit from a mine so close to town.